The African American story has been important to the development of the automobile industry and labor since the early 1900s. Just a generation or two removed from freedom from slavery, many moved their families to the North to be part of the manufacturing revolution being led by the mass production of the automobile. MotorCities National Heritage Area partnered with The Charles Wright Museum, Walter Reuther Library and National Automotive History Collection to create a fitting chronicle of the experience of the African American worker in the automobile industry. This project will follow them from their agricultural southern roots to their entry into the industrial world, delving in to the choices of a black family, their social and economic status; the creation of the black middle class, positions during war and peace; to their development as leaders and innovators in their fields.